Derivs - People and Markets

Jefferies Bache has hired Mike Newton, former global macro trader at Caxton Associates, as a managing director in its fx group in New York.

Barclays is slashing bonuses at Barclays Capital, its investment-banking unit, by 32% after the bank reported a 16% decline in full-year net income.

Société Générale has named Sylvain Cartier head of fixed income for the Asia-Pacific.

Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm has retired as chairman of UBS’ investment bank, but will remain with the firm as a consultant.

Lloyds Banking Group has named Jeremy Adam as head of fx structuring.

Clearing members could be exposed to substantial liquidity risk between different central counterparties in distressed market situations, if the current margin system for central clearing applies to clearable derivatives, according to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. Some regulatory officials aren’t buying the argument though.

Liz Hogan, co-head of fixed income, currencies, and commodities for the Americas at Société Générale in New York, has left the firm.

Credit default swap spreads on Residential Capital widened 13.3 percentage points to 54.8% upfront on reports that Ally Financial unit was said to be looking to sell itself through a prearrange bankruptcy.

Broker-dealer AX Trading has named John King as managing director and head of sales.

HSBC has appointed Asif Godall as head of European credit trading in London, according to a memo.

If credit default swaps aren’t triggered on Greek debt, the sovereign CDS market will likely break down, according to Nick Pierce, head of fixed income in Europe at Vanguard.

Credit default swaps remain the most common type of credit derivatives product in Hong Kong, accounting for 95% of gross positions, according to Celent.